Relatives of the shot general director of the club offered to buy the killer from Chechnya
On June 15, 2022, it will be 25 years since Larisa Nechaeva's death. Rucriminal.info already provided details about the killing of Larisa Nechaeva, the former CEO of the country's most popular club. However, Larisa Gennadievna's son, Andrey, has now revealed more about the high-profile crime. And a sports journalist, Alexei Matveev, who has authored books about football, prepared this material specifically for the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info.
“SYSTEM ON SELF-SCORE”
“About a year and a half after the tragedy, in late 1998, I received a call from Petrovka,” Andrey remembers. – They offered to pay a certain amount for a potential operation to catch the perpetrators of the murder. It appeared that individuals from Chechnya, who could hand over the criminals for a bribe, were involved. They demanded a ransom. However, my family and I did not have such an amount. Our income is very modest. After refusing to pay, the “benefactors” from Petrovka did not contact us again.
It seems that members of the Russian law enforcement system have shifted, and apparently for a long time, to the principle of “self-sufficiency”. In other words, if the relatives and friends of the deceased can pay for the operation to search for and apprehend the perpetrators, then they should approach our offices with a certain sum of money.
Otherwise, there's little to hope for. A crafty law enforcement officer who doesn't work for free. I would like to believe that this doesn't apply to all members of law enforcement agencies, but it seems to apply to most of them, judging by the number of resolved serious crimes.
Larisa Nechaeva
Larisa Nechaeva, according to her eldest son, rarely shared her affairs with close people, possibly to spare them worry. In her blunt manner, it did slip out, however, that she got involved in a very challenging and unpleasant undertaking.
– It was evident in her stories, – Andrey confesses. – Particularly, she struggled to interact with the then club vice-president, Grigory Esaulenko. Did she have a premonition of trouble? The very atmosphere seemed saturated with it. From around March 1996, the atmosphere in Spartak became especially tense. I distinctly felt it, especially when my mother, her brother, and my uncle Gennady Sorokin, who was her personal driver, began discussing hiring professional bodyguards. They felt it was time to hire them, just in case. However, everyone kept postponing this necessary measure. I saw my mother simply didn't believe in such a terrible and near conclusion.
Larisa Gennadievna was a commanding, moderately proud, determined woman. She did not heed advice to step aside, take a look around, or at times, “keep your head down”. According to conversations among her inner circle, she became agitated. Nechaeva turned out to be a very successful businesswoman, and she had no intention of quitting her job, even when her life was at risk.
Andrey says that his mother had a good relationship with Oleg Ivanovich until recently, as he invited her to work at the club. However, it appears that Romantsev, who was in charge at Spartak, no longer made decisions as other people did it for him. Andrey's mother was seen as a brain trust and carefully handled all the club's deals. The head coach and the president only signed the documents prepared by the general director. Initially, Andrey looked up to Romantsev as the best coach in Russia. Learning that his mother communicated with Oleg Ivanovich himself made him feel delighted and made him consider rooting for Spartak. However, admiration turned into disappointment over time. Thanks to his mother, Andrey got involved in the inner workings of the team, interacted with its staff, and attended matches both in Moscow and abroad.
CUSTOMERS OF THE MURDER CALLED TO “SPARTAK”
Andrey describes the atmosphere as filled with total hypocrisy, with people behaving unnaturally and insincerely. He started avoiding many of them. After his mother's death, Oleg Ivanovich never reached out to him, except for one thing: he paid for Andrey's Law Academy education for three years in advance. They discussed this during his mother's funeral, and Andrey realized that he needed to talk to Romantsev at that moment, as time was not on his side.
Interestingly, the closest associate of Grigory Yesaulenko, who became Spartak's general director after Larisa Nechaeva's death, called the murdered woman's eldest son to work at the club.
Andrei declined the offer, understanding that many club employees are interconnected and wouldn't change their style of work or communication for his sake. Therefore, for security reasons, it wasn't worth going there.
Andrey mentions his reluctance to reopen the matter, realizing that he lacked the resources and connections to investigate independently. However, he still hopes for someone influential to push for the investigation of his mother's murder. He appeals to the current president for assistance, as his mother's beliefs aligned with his. Despite having no connections in law enforcement agencies, he holds onto a faint hope that the case will be thoroughly investigated.
Andrei and his family have somewhat come to terms with the loss of his mother over the years. Yet, he remains steadfast in seeking justice for the criminals responsible for his mother's death. While he doesn't want to nurture a sense of revenge, he is determined to ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable. Despite his skepticism about finding the mastermind and the shooters, he is resolute in not letting their actions go unpunished.
Too much time has passed. It seemed that the obvious moments of “getting” the villains were missed. And every day, in his words, works against the triumph of justice.
According to Andrey, the name and surname of the customer were announced by the investigators, as well as by his own uncle. Everything points to Mr. Esaulenko. By the way, Grigory Vasilievich earlier, during the life of Larisa Gennadievna, for some reason diligently avoided communication with her son. Then Andrei did not attach any importance to the somewhat strange behavior of the Spartak boss.
Grigory Esaulenko (left)
“I thought that people like Esaulenko, who own a solid fortune, are closed, unsociable,” recalls Nechaeva’s son. – Later, I began to evaluate the processes that took place in the team I once loved in a different way. Now a lot of things seem ominous.
Relations with his uncle, Gennady Sorokin, the brother of Larisa Gennadievna, Andrei, of course, supports. Gennady Gennadievich survived during the massacre in the village of Taratino, but remained disabled. And some time after the tragedy, he completely left the capital, returning to his small homeland, to Alushta.
